Condition monitoring pod

ABSTRACT

Apparatuses are disclosed including an apparatus for machine fluid monitoring or sampling comprising a transparent sight glass attachable to a machine such that machine fluid is transferable to the sight glass. The sight glass may have one or more ports, an open first end, a closed second end, and a cavity for the machine fluid. A grommet may be positioned in a first port of the sight glass and may have a sealable access pathway through the grommet to the cavity within the sight glass through which a probe may be extended. A magnetic plug may be positioned in the second port of the sight glass extending into the cavity within the sight glass such that the magnetic plug is positionable for contact with the machine fluid. A sample port assembly may be connected to the sight glass whereby samples of the machine fluid are accessible.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to the U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/242,395, filed Apr. 1, 2014, and claimsthe benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/807,158,entitled “CONDITION MONITORING POD,” filed on Apr. 1, 2013, all of whichare incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure generally relates to methods and apparatuses formonitoring machine fluids, such as lubricants in machinery. Moreparticularly, but not by way of limitation, the disclosure relates toapparatuses adapted for easy access, testing, and monitoring of machinefluids in machinery, such as, but not limited to, oil withinmanufacturing equipment.

BACKGROUND

Most machines used in manufacturing and other industries require machinefluids for lubrication and function of machine components. Exemplarymachine fluids include lubricants and oils which may be based uponhydrocarbon, synthetic and/or petroleum based products. Other types ofmachine fluids include hydraulic fluids. The machine fluids typicallymust be maintained within a preferred range of composition andcleanliness for efficient performance of the machine. For example, whenoil is used as a machine fluid, the unwanted addition of water or debrismay cause the machine to loose efficiency or sustain damage.

In the past, machine fluids are monitored through the collection andanalysis of samples of the machine fluid. However, some current samplingand monitoring processes are inefficient, time consuming, and costly.For example, sampling may be taken from the bottom of the sump ofmachines (e.g., from drain ports), which can mix the lubricant withsediment making effective oil monitoring difficult. Or, sampling mayrequire that the machine be stopped or even drained of lubricant,causing a loss of production of the machine. The best sample locationand device enables the lubricant to be sampled from moving(representative) fluid without temporary loss of production. Therefore,an apparatus is needed to more efficiently monitor (through onsiteinspection techniques) and sample machine liquids from a singlelocation.

SUMMARY

Apparatuses are disclosed that facilitate efficient monitoring and/orsampling of a machine fluid within a machine. The problem of inefficientmachine fluid monitoring and sampling is addressed through a conditionmonitoring pod optionally having a sight glass at least partiallyconstructed of transparent material and having one or more portsconfigured to provide a variety of monitoring and/or analysis functions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate one or more implementationsdescribed herein and, together with the description, explain theseimplementations. The drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale, andcertain features and certain views of the figures may be shownexaggerated, to scale or in schematic in the interest of clarity andconciseness. Not every component may be labeled in every drawing. Likereference numerals in the figures may represent and refer to the same orsimilar element or function. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary condition monitoring pod(CMP) assembly mounted to a machine in accordance with the presentdisclosure such that a machine fluid within the machine enters into thecondition monitoring pod and is visible to a person monitoring thecondition of the machine fluid.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an exemplary condition monitoring podassembly in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the exemplary condition monitoring pod assemblyof FIG. 2

FIG. 4 is a front view of the exemplary condition monitoring podassembly of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of an exemplary sight glass inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view of an exemplary conditionmonitoring pod assembly in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional side view of an exemplary coupling bodyconstructed in accordance with the present disclosure and configured tosupport a lighting system of a version of the condition monitoring podassembly.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an exemplary condition monitoring podassembly connected to a processing unit and mounted to a machine inaccordance with the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the sameor similar elements.

The mechanisms proposed in this disclosure circumvent the problemsdescribed above. The present disclosure describes a condition monitoringpod assembly for monitoring and sampling a machine fluid using a sightglass at least partially constructed of a material that is transparentto light within a visible region and having one or more ports formonitoring functions in addition to visible inspection of the machinefluid. The exemplary embodiment of the condition monitoring pod assemblycomprises a sight glass at least partially constructed of one or morematerials that is transparent to light in a visible region, the sightglass having an open first end, a closed second end, an inside surfaceand an outside surface extending from the open first end to the closedsecond end and forming a cavity within the sight glass, the sight glassfurther having a first port and a second port, the first port and thesecond port extending from the cavity through the inside surface and theoutside surface, wherein the open first end of the sight glass isconfigured to be attachable to a machine such that machine fluid istransferable from the machine to the cavity of the sight glass. Theassembly may further comprise a probe extending through the first portand into the sight glass cavity and a grommet positioned in the firstport of the sight glass, the grommet having a sealable access pathwaythrough the grommet to the cavity within the sight glass, the probeextending through the access pathway into the cavity within the sightglass. The probe may be designed to interact with predeterminedconstituents of the machine fluid for aiding the user in detecting thepresence or absence of the predetermined constituents in the machinefluid. For example, the probe may be constructed of a material, such assteel, which rusts in the presence of water. If water is within themachine fluid, the probe will rust thereby providing a visual indicationto the user viewing the probe through the sight glass that water iswithin (i.e., a constituent of) the machine fluid and the rust inhibitoradditive is no longer effective.

In one embodiment, the assembly further comprises a magnetic plugpositioned in the second port of the sight glass and extending into thecavity within the sight glass such that the magnetic plug ispositionable for contact with the machine fluid. The magnetic plug mayinclude a magnet which produces a magnetic field to attract and retainparticles within the machine fluid that are composed of a ferromagneticmaterial, such as iron. The particles may be formed by the frictionalsurfaces of gears, bearings or other components of the machine exposedto abrasion, galling, and surface fatigue. In particular, the shapeand/or properties of the particles provide an indication as to operatingcondition of the machine that may not otherwise be visible or known tothe operator without laboratory analysis of an oil sample. The magnetmay be a permanent magnet or an electromagnet.

In one embodiment, the condition monitoring pod assembly furthercomprises a sample port assembly extending through the sight glass oradjacent to the sight glass. The sample port assembly has a first end, asecond end, an inside surface and an outside surface. The inside surfaceand the outside surface extend from the first end to the second end. Theinside surface at least partially or completely surrounds and forms asealable access pathway whereby one or more samples of the machine fluidis accessible through the sealable access pathway. The sample portassembly may also have a valve positioned within the sealable accesspathway to permit a user to open the valve and remove a sample of amachine fluid and then close the valve to seal the sealable accesspathway preferably without having to stop or otherwise alter theoperating condition of the machine. The sample port assembly may alsohave a pilot tube extending from the sealable access pathway into theactive flow of the machine fluid so as to access a sample reflective ofactual conditions within the machine.

DESCRIPTION

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary,“or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example,a condition A or B is satisfied by anyone of the following: A is true(or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or notpresent) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (orpresent).

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elementsand components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the inventive concept. Thisdescription should be read to include one or more and the singular alsoincludes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meant otherwise.

Further, use of the term “plurality” is meant to convey “more than one”unless expressly stated to the contrary.

Finally, as used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular element, feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in oneembodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment.

As discussed above, current systems for monitoring and sampling machinelubricants are inefficient, costly, and time consuming. The presentdisclosure addresses these deficiencies, in one embodiment, with anapparatus for monitoring and sampling machine liquids comprising a sightglass assembly having a sight glass at least partially constructed oftransparent material and having one or more ports for multiplemonitoring functions.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of anexemplary condition monitoring pod (CMP) assembly 90 mounted to amachine 92 in accordance with the present disclosure such that a machinefluid 94 (shown in phantom) within the machine 92 enters into a sightglass 96 of the condition monitoring pod assembly 90 and is visible to aperson monitoring the condition of the machine fluid 94 through at leasta portion of the sight glass 96. The sight glass 96 extends away fromthe machine 92 and may be visible from multiple different perspectivesto enhance the readability of the sight glass 96 as compared toconventional planar sight glasses. In some embodiments, the machine 92may include a housing 93 with an opening 95 sized, dimensioned, andlocated to overlap a predetermined preferred level of the machine fluid94 within the housing 93. The condition monitoring pod assembly 90 maybe connected to the housing 93 of the machine 92.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the exemplary condition monitoring pod(CMP) assembly 90 in accordance with the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is aside view of the exemplary condition monitoring pod assembly 90 of FIG.2. FIG. 4 is a front view of the exemplary condition monitoring podassembly 90 of FIG. 1. As depicted in the example illustrated in FIGS.1-4, the condition monitoring pod assembly 90 may comprise the sightglass 96, one or more grommet 112, one or more magnetic plug 114, acoupling 116, a coupling body 118, one or more sample port assembly 120,and one or more pilot tube 122. The condition monitoring pod assembly 90may further comprise a reducer 124 and one or more shims 126 a . . . 126n, only one shim 126 is shown in FIG. 3 for purposes of brevity.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of an exemplary sight glass 96 inaccordance with the present disclosure. The sight glass 96 may be atleast partially constructed of one or more materials that aretransparent to light in a visible region to permit a user to view themachine fluid 94 through the sight glass 96. Non-exclusive examples ofsuch transparent materials include plastic (e.g., acrylic) and glass.The sight glass 96 may be a unitary structure or may be made frommultiple separate components that are connected together. When the sightglass 96 is a unitary structure, the sight glass 96 may be formed by amolding process.

The sight glass 96 has an open first end 150, a closed second end 152,an inside surface 154 and an outside surface 156 extending from the openfirst end 150 to the closed second end 152, which form a cavity 158within the sight glass 96. The open first end 150 of the sight glass 96is configured to be attachable to the machine 92 such that the machinefluid 94 is transferable from the machine 92 to the cavity 158 of thesight glass 96 for visible inspection. The second end 152 of the sightglass 96 can be constructed of the one or more materials that aretransparent to light in the visible region so that a user may thenmonitor the machine fluid 94 visually through the inside and outsidesurfaces 154, 156 and/or the second end 152. This provides amulti-dimensional view of the machine fluid 94 to aid the user ininspecting the condition of the machine fluid 94. Further, a lowerportion of the sight glass 96 may form a bottom of the sight glass 96thereby supporting any debris that settles thereon for visualinspection.

The sight glass 96 aids the user to visually inspect the condition ofthe machine fluid 94 so that the user can determine whether the machinefluid 94 is acceptable, or has a problem. Exemplary problems include themachine fluid 94 containing debris, being frothy, and/or having a colorindicative of the machine fluid 94 being dirty, being the wrongcomposition, or being the wrong type of fluid. Additionally, thecondition monitoring pod assembly 90 may be positioned such that theuser may also determine visually through the sight glass 96 if themachine fluid 94 is at an acceptable or unacceptable volume in themachine, by comparing the level of machine fluid in the sight glass 96to a predetermined preferred level, which may be indicated by indicia,such as a line, positioned at the predetermined preferred level on thesight glass 96.

The sight glass 96 may have a first port 160 and a second port 162extending from the cavity 158 through the inside surface 154 and theoutside surface 156. One or both of the first and second ports 160 and162 may be threaded. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the first port 160is unthreaded and designed to accept the grommet 112; the second port162 is threaded and designed to accept the magnetic plug 114.

In one embodiment, a probe 164 (FIG. 3) may extend through the grommet112 within the first port 160 and into the cavity 158 of the sight glass96 and into the machine fluid 94 therein. The probe 164 may have a rod166 and a head 168 extending outwardly from the rod 166. The probe 164may be a unitary structure, or be formed of two or more components thatare connected together.

The probe 164 may be configured to test the machine fluid 94. Forexample, the rod 166 may have at least one oil test sensor to read aproperty of the machine fluid 94. The oil test sensor may be selectedfrom a group including a conductivity sensor, a moisture sensor, aparticle counter sensor, and a dielectric sensor, for example. In oneaspect of the present disclosure, the rod 166 of the probe 164 may beconstructed of a similar material as that used for machine components ofinterest. The rod 166 of the probe 164 may then be used as an indicatorof how the machine fluid 94 is affecting the machine components. Forexample, the rod 166 of the probe 164 may be made of bronze and gears inthe machine 92 may be made of bronze. Then, if the bronze rod 166 of theprobe 164 is adversely affected by the machine fluid 94, this mayindicate that the bronze gears are also being adversely affected by themachine fluid 94. In one example, the rod 166 of the probe 164 may beiron or steel which rusts in the presence of water to indicate thepresence of water in the machine fluid 94. The rod 166 may act as a heatsink by being cooler than the machine fluid 94, which may assistcondensation forming on the rod 166 in the cavity 158 of the sight glass96.

In one embodiment, the grommet 112 may be positioned in the first port160 of the sight glass 96. The grommet 112 may have a sealable accesspathway 170 through the grommet 112 to the cavity 158 within the sightglass 96, allowing for access to the machine fluid 94 in the sight glass96. For example, the rod 166 of the probe 164 may extend through theaccess pathway 170 into the cavity 158 within the sight glass 96. Thegrommet 112 may be constructed, at least partially, of a flexiblematerial, such as a rubber or plastic compound. In one embodiment, thegrommet 112 may be constructed of a flexible material that may expandsufficiently for the rod 166 of the probe 164 to be inserted in theaccess pathway 170 and that may contract to seal the first port 160 whenthe rod 166 of the probe 164 is not present.

In one embodiment, the magnetic plug 114 may be positioned in the secondport 162 of the sight glass 96. The magnetic plug 114 may be constructedof threaded metal and may extend into the cavity 158 of the sight glass96 such that the magnetic plug 114 comes in contact with the machinefluid 94. The magnetic plug 114 may have a magnet that attracts andretains metal debris in the machine fluid 94. The magnetic plug 114 maybe removed from the sight glass 96 and the captured metal debris removedfrom the magnetic plug 114 and then analyzed to determine certainoperating characteristics of the machine 92. For example, the shape ormaterial of the metal debris may indicate what part of the machine 92the metal debris came from and thus indicate possible problems in thatarea of the machine 92. The sight glass 96 may be positioned such thatthe machine fluid 94 is transferred to the sight glass 96 near machinecomponents of interest. In this way, the metal debris captured by themagnetic plug 114 is captured more directly from the area of interestwithout being damaged by passing through cycles within the machine 92.For instance, bronze debris with a spiral shape may indicate damage tothe gears of the machine 92, but if the debris is allowed to passthrough the machine 92 the debris' shape may be transformed into aflattened shape, thereby making analysis of origin more difficult.

The sight glass 96 may be rotatably connected to the machine 92 suchthat the magnetic plug 114 and/or the grommet 112 may be convenientlypositioned relative to the machine fluid 94. For example, before theuser removes the magnetic plug 114, the user may rotate the sight glass96 such that the magnetic plug 114 and the second port 162 are above thelevel of the machine fluid 94 in the cavity 158 of the sight glass 96 toprevent spillage of the machine fluid 94. In the example shown, themagnetic plug 114 and the probe 164 are supported on opposite sides ofthe sight glass 96 but are not required to be aligned with one another.

Referring now to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 depicts a cross-sectional view of thecondition monitoring pod assembly 90 of FIG. 1. In one embodiment, thesight glass 96 is rotatably connected to the machine with the coupling116 and the coupling body 118. The coupling 116 may have an open firstend 180 and an open second end 182. In the example shown, the sightglass 96 has a ridge 184 adjacent to the first end 150 thereof and awindow portion 186 extending from the ridge 184 to the second end 152.The first end 180 is sized to pass the window portion 186 and abutagainst the ridge 184. The coupling 116 may have, but not limited to, athreaded interior surface for mechanically connecting to the couplingbody 118. The coupling 116 may permit tightening and looseningadjustments of sight glass 96 for rotation and visual inspection ofmachine fluid 94, probe 164 and/or magnetic plug 114. The coupling 116may also permit removability of sight glass 96 for cleaning andreplacement. In one embodiment, the coupling 116 is a lock nut.

The coupling body 118 may have an open first end 212 and an open secondend 214, an inside surface 216 and an outside surface 218 extending fromthe open first end 212 to the open second end 214 forming a couplingbody cavity 220 such that the machine fluid is transferable from themachine 92 through the coupling body 118 to the sight glass 96. Thecoupling body 118 may have a port 222 extending from the coupling bodycavity 220 through the inside surface 216 and the outside surface 218.The coupling body 118 may be connected to the open first end 150 of thesight glass 96.

For example, as can be seen in FIG. 5, the ridge 184 of the sight glass96 fits into the second end 214 of the coupling body 118. The coupling116 may fit over the window portion 186 of the sight glass 96 and beattached to the coupling body 118 such that the sight glass 96 issecured to the coupling body 118 and the sight glass 96 is stillrotatable. Further, in at least some embodiments, the coupling body 118may be connected to the open first end 150 of the sight glass 96 andremovable from the sight glass 96 without destruction of the couplingbody 118 or the sight glass 96. In one embodiment, one or more seals,such as seal 126 a, may be used to seal the connection between thecoupling body 118 and the sight glass 96 to prevent machine fluid leaks.The one or more seal 126 may be one or more o-ring or gasket, forexample.

In one embodiment, the condition monitoring pod assembly 90 furthercomprises the sample port assembly 120, also referred to as an oilsampling port assembly 120, connected to the sight glass 96. The sampleport assembly 120 may have a first end 310 and a second end 312, aninside surface (not shown) and an outside surface 316 from the first end310 to the second end 312 forming a sealable access pathway whereby oneor more samples of the machine fluid 94 are accessible. The sample portassembly 120 may be positioned directly into the sight glass 96 or maybe positioned in the port 222 of the coupling body 118. In oneembodiment, the sample port assembly 120 may include a valve to aid theuser in drawing the machine fluid 94 out of the machine 92 through thepilot tube 122 and the sample port assembly 120.

The sample port assembly 120 may be utilized to pull a sample of themachine fluid 94 from the machine 92 from a preferred location in themachine 92. For example, the pilot tube 122 may be connected to thefirst end 310 of the sample port assembly 120 or the inside surface 216of the coupling body 118. The pilot tube 122 may be a tube of sufficientlength and shape to obtain machine fluid 94 from a preferred location inthe machine 92 to the sample port assembly 120. The preferred locationmay be near active flow of the machine fluid 94 so as to access a samplereflective of actual conditions within the machine 92. The sample ofmachine fluid 94 may be analyzed for composition, cleanliness, moisturecontent, and so on, to determine if the machine fluid 94 and/or themachine 92 are in a preferred range for efficiency.

In one embodiment, a reducer 124 may be used to adapt the size of thecondition monitoring pod assembly 90 to a port (not shown) of themachine 92. The reducer 124 may have an open first end 410, an opensecond end 412, an inside surface 416 and an outside surface 418extending from the open first end 410 to the open second end 412 forminga reducer cavity 420 such that the machine fluid 94 is transferable fromthe machine 92 through the reducer 124 to the sight glass 96. The firstend 410 may be a different size than the second end 412 to adapt thecondition monitoring pod assembly 90 to be connectable to the port inthe machine 92. One or more shims 126, such as shim 126 b, may be usedto position the sample port 120 relative to machine 92 to provideconvenient access for sampling fluid 94. The reducer 124 can be adaptedto connect to the port of the machine utilizing any suitable technology,such as a threaded connection.

In an exemplary embodiment, using threaded connections, the conditionmonitoring pod (CMP) assembly 90 can be installed onto the machine 92 asfollows. A volume of the machine fluid 94 is removed so that the machinefluid 94 is located below a port of the machine 92 where the conditionmonitoring pod assembly 90 will be installed. The port can be created byforming a threaded hole in the machine 92. If the machine 92 already hasthe port, the port can be opened by removing an original equipmentmanufacturer sight glass or plug, if any, from the machine 92 so as toprovide access to the port. Then, a suitable reducer 124 having anoutside diameter matching an inside diameter of the port may beconnected to the coupling body 118, and then the reducer 124 may bethreaded into the port. One or more shim 126, such as shim 126 b, may beused to position sample port 120 relative to machine 92 to provideconvenient access to machine fluid 94. Once the condition monitoring podassembly 90 is installed, an additional volume of the machine fluid 94can be added to the machine 92.

Once installed, the condition monitoring pod (CMP) assembly 90 can beused to obtain samples of the machine fluid 94 without interruptingoperation of the machine 92 by inserting a tube (not shown) through aport of the condition monitoring pod assembly 90 and into the machinefluid 94 of the machine 92. For example, the port can be the second port162 in the sight glass 96 and in this case, the tube may be disposedthrough the grommet 112. The tube can be a pipette or a needle of asyringe, for example. Once the tube is positioned in the machine fluid,a sample of the machine fluid 94 is drawn into the tube and the tube isremoved from the port. The sample may be applied from the tube to adiagnostic instrument configured to test one or more properties of themachine fluid.

Referring now to FIG. 7, shown therein is another embodiment of acoupling body 500 constructed in accordance with the present disclosure.The coupling body 500 is constructed and used in a similar manner as thecoupling body 118 discussed above, with the exception that the couplingbody 500 is configured to support a lighting system 502 to illuminatethe machine fluid 94 in the sight glass 96 for better inspection of itsvisual properties (e.g., turbidity, entrained air, foam, varnish, oillevel, or the like).

The coupling body 500 may be provided with an inside surface 504, and anopen end 506 configured to attach to the first end 150 of the sightglass 96. The lighting system 502 may include a light source 508connected to the inside surface 504 and positioned to direct lightthrough the open end 506 and into the cavity 158 of the sight glass 96without the light passing through the outside surface 156 of the sightglass 96 before the light enters the cavity 158. After the light entersthe cavity 158, then the light may pass through the inside surface 154and/or the outside surface 156 of the sight glass 96.

The light source 508 can be a device configured to convert electricalpower into photons of light that are preferably within the visibleregion of the electromagnetic spectrum. For example, the light source508 may include one or more light emitting diodes or be based uponXenon-type technologies. The lighting system 502 may also include anactuator 512, such as a button or a switch, configured to connect anddisconnect electricity from a power source 514, such as a battery. Theactuator 512 can be electrically connected to the light source 508utilizing any suitable technology, such as wires 515 extending through abore 516 within the coupling body 500 and between the light source 508and the actuator 512.

Although the light source 508 is shown as being connected to thecoupling body 500, it should be understood that the present disclosurealso contemplates the light source 508 being connected to othercomponents of the condition monitoring pod assembly 90, such as theinside surface 154 of the sight glass 96. In this embodiment, theactuator 512 and the power source 514 can also be connected to andsupported by the sight glass 96.

Referring now to FIG. 8, shown therein is a condition monitoring podassembly 600 mounted to the machine 92 and in fluid communication with aprocessing unit 602. The condition monitoring pod assembly 600 may beimplemented similarly to the condition monitoring pod assembly 90. Insome embodiments, for example, the condition monitoring pod assembly 600may be provided with a sight glass 604, a first port 606 extendingthrough the sight glass 604, a second port 608 extending through thesight glass 604, a magnetic plug 610 positioned within the first port606, a coupling 612, a coupling body 614, an oil sampling port assembly616 adjacent and connected to the sight glass 604 positioned within aport of the coupling body 614, and one or more pilot tube (not shown).The oil sampling port assembly 616 may be implemented similarly to theoil sampling port assembly 120.

The sight glass 604 may be implemented similarly to the sight glass 96,and may be visible from multiple different perspectives to enhancereadability of the machine fluid 94. The sight glass 604 may have aninside surface 620 and an outside surface 622, where the first port 606and the second port 608 extend between the inside and outside surfaces620 and 622 of the sight glass 604. The inside surface 620 may define acavity 623 within the sight glass 604 enabling a portion of the machinefluid 94 to be transferred from the machine 92 into the sight glass 604indicative of a level of machine fluid 94 within the machine 92. In someembodiments, the first port 606 may be positioned on the sight glass 604substantially opposite from the second port 608.

The first port 606 may be implemented similar to the second port 162 andbe configured to receive the magnetic plug 610. The magnetic plug 610may be implemented similarly to the magnetic plug 114, as describedabove. In at least some embodiments, the first port 606 may bepositioned on an upper portion of the sight glass 604 such that themagnetic plug 610, extending into the sight glass 604 through the firstport 606, may extend into and contact the machine fluid 94 within thesight glass 604. The magnetic plug 610, contacting the machine fluid 94,may have a magnet that attracts and retains metal debris in the machinefluid 94. The magnetic plug 610 may be removed from the sight glass 604and the captured metal debris removed from the magnetic plug 610 andthen analyzed to determine certain operating characteristics of themachine 92, as described above.

The second port 608 may be provided with and receive an oil return portassembly 624. In some embodiments, the oil return port assembly 624 maybe implemented similarly to the oil sampling port assembly 120. In someembodiments, the oil return port assembly 624 may be coupled to theprocessing unit 602 and configured to transfer the machine fluid 94,received from the processing unit 602 and sampled through the first oilsampling port assembly 616 back into the sight glass 604, or the housing93 of the machine 92, to maintain the level of the machine fluid 94within the machine 92 and the sight glass 602 and to provide a fluidtransfer circulation between the processing unit 602 and the machine 92.The oil return port assembly 624 may or may not include a valve forcontrolling the flow of the machine fluid 94 therethrough. In someembodiments, one or both of the first and second ports 606 and 608 maybe positioned on the coupling body 614, enabling contact with themachine fluid 94 without being positioned within the sight glass 604.

In some embodiments, the coupling body 614 may be implemented similar tothe coupling body 118. The coupling body 614 may have a port (not shown)extending through the coupling body 614 to which the oil sampling portassembly 616 may be connected. In some embodiments, the coupling body614 may be provided with a second port (not shown) extending through thecoupling body 614. The second port may be coupled to the processing unit602, for example by the oil return port assembly 624, and receive themachine fluid 94 from the processing unit 602 to discharge the machinefluid 94 back into the housing 93 of the machine 92.

The oil sampling port assembly 616 may be provided with a first fluidconnection 626-1 and the oil return port assembly 624 may be providedwith a second fluid connection 626-2. The first fluid connection 626-1and the second fluid connection 626-2 may place the first oil samplingport assembly 616 and the oil return port assembly 624 in fluidcommunication with the processing unit 602. The first and second fluidconnections 626-1 and 626-2 may be formed from hoses, tubing, piping, orany other suitable hollow tubular member capable of enabling a fluidconnection between the processing unit 602 and the first oil samplingport assembly 616 and the oil return port assemblies 624.

In some embodiments, the first fluid connection 626-1 may enable themachine fluid 94 sampled from the machine 92 through the first oilsampling port assembly 616 to be transferred to the processing unit 602.The processing unit 602 may then analyze the machine fluid 94 for one ormore property, such as particle count, water and/or viscosity. Afterbeing analyzed by the processing unit 602, the machine fluid 94 may betransferred from the processing unit 602 through the second fluidconnection 626-2 into the sight glass 604 (on the coupling body 614) viathe oil return port assembly 624. In these embodiments, the machinefluid 94 may be sampled without opening the machine 92 and without acessation of operations of the machine 92. The processing unit 602 canbe any type of device that is configured to test, analyze and/or correctthe machine fluid 94 to identify and/or correct any deficiencies of themachine fluid 94. For example, the processing unit 602 may test to seeif a particle count in the machine fluid 94 exceeds a predeterminedlevel, and if so, the processing unit 602 may circulate the machinefluid 94 through one or more filters to clean the machine fluid 94 priorto transferring the machine fluid 94 into the machine 92 via thecondition monitoring pod 600.

The processing unit 602 may be implemented as any suitable diagnosticinstrument configured to analyze the machine fluid 94 for one or moreproperty. As described above, the processing unit 602 may retrieveportions of the machine fluid 94 from the machine 92 via the oilsampling port assembly 616, test the machine fluid 94, and return themachine fluid 94 to the machine 92 via the oil return port assembly 624,In some embodiments, the processing unit 602 may additionally oralternatively be in fluid communication with other ports of thecondition monitoring pod assembly 600, the sight glass 604, or thecoupling body 614. The processing unit 602 may retrieve the machinefluid 94 in a continuous cycle, in at least some embodiments. Themachine fluid 94, retrieved by the processing unit 602, may be sampledfrom an active region of the machine 92 via the pilot tube 122 connectedto the oil sampling port assembly 616. As such, the machine fluid 94 maybe retrieved from active regions of the machine 92 and returned withoutcompromising the machine fluid 94 or shutting down the machine 92.

CONCLUSION

Conventionally, systems for monitoring and sampling machine lubricantsare inefficient, costly, and time consuming. The present disclosureaddresses these deficiencies with an apparatus for monitoring andsampling machine fluids 94 with the sight glass 96 or coupling body 118or 614. The sight glass 96 is at least partially constructed oftransparent material and has one or more ports adapted to provide one ormore fluid monitoring functions.

The foregoing description provides illustration and description, but isnot intended to be exhaustive or to limit the inventive concepts to theprecise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible inlight of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of themethodologies set forth in the present disclosure.

Even though particular combinations of features are recited in theclaims and/or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are notintended to limit the disclosure. In fact, many of these features may becombined in ways not specifically recited in the claims and/or disclosedin the specification. Although each dependent claim listed below maydirectly depend on only one other claim, the disclosure includes eachdependent claim in combination with every other claim in the claim set.

No element, act, or instruction used in the present 26-32 applicationshould be construed as critical or essential to the invention unlessexplicitly described as such outside of the preferred embodiment.Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least inpart, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: a machine having ahousing containing a machine fluid, the housing having an opening sized,dimensioned, and located to overlap a predetermined preferred level ofthe machine fluid within the housing; a coupling body connected to thehousing of the machine and in fluid communication with the machinefluid, the coupling body having a first port extending from the couplingbody into the machine below the predetermined preferred level of themachine fluid to enable the machine fluid within the housing to betransferred from the machine to the first port; a processing unitcoupled to the first port and receiving the machine fluid, theprocessing unit analyzing the machine fluid for one or more property;and a sight glass supported by the coupling body and in fluidcommunication with the machine fluid, the sight glass, at leastpartially, constructed of one or more materials that is transparent tolight in a visible region, the sight glass having an open first endreceiving the machine fluid, a closed second end, an inside surface andan outside surface extending from the open first end to the closedsecond end and at least partially surrounding a cavity within the sightglass, the sight glass having a second port extending from the cavitythrough the inside surface and the outside surface, the second portcoupled to the processing unit and transferring machine fluid, receivedfrom the processing unit, into the housing of the machine.
 2. Anapparatus, comprising: a machine having a housing containing a machinefluid, the housing having an opening sized, dimensioned, and located tooverlap a predetermined preferred level of the machine fluid within thehousing; a coupling body connected to the housing of the machine and influid communication with the machine fluid, the coupling body having afirst port extending from the coupling body into the machine below thepredetermined preferred level of the machine fluid to enable the machinefluid within the housing to be transferred from the machine to the firstport; a processing unit coupled to the first port and receiving themachine fluid, the processing unit analyzing the machine fluid for oneor more property; and a sight glass having an open first end coupled tothe coupling body, the sight glass being at least partially constructedof one or more materials that is transparent to light in a visibleregion, the sight glass having a closed second end, an inside surfaceand an outside surface extending from the open first end to the closedsecond end and across the closed second end, the sight glass at leastpartially surrounding a cavity within the sight glass, the sight glassfurther having a second port extending from the cavity through theinside surface and the outside surface of a portion of the sight glassthat is transparent to light in the visible region, the second portbeing separate from the open first end, wherein the open first end ofthe sight glass is coupled to the coupling body such that machine fluidis transferable from the machine to the sight glass, and the closedsecond end constructed of the one or more materials that are transparentto light in the visible region to allow inspection of machine fluidthrough the closed second end.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, furthercomprising a probe extending through the second port and into the cavityof the sight glass.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising: agrommet positioned in the second port of the sight glass, the grommethaving a sealable access pathway through the grommet to the cavitywithin the sight glass, the probe extending through the access pathwayinto the cavity within the sight glass.
 5. The apparatus of claim 2,wherein the sight glass further comprises a third port extending fromthe cavity through the inside surface and the outside surface.
 6. Theapparatus of claim 2, further comprising at least one oil test sensorsized and configured to be positioned in the second port.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 6, wherein the at least one oil test sensor is from agroup consisting of a conductivity sensor, a moisture sensor, a particlecounter sensor, and a dielectric sensor.
 8. The apparatus of claim 2,further comprising a magnetic plug sized and configured to be positionedin the second port of the sight glass.
 9. The apparatus of claim 2,wherein the coupling body is coupled to the first end of the sight glassand removable from the sight glass without destruction of the couplingbody or the sight glass, the coupling body configured to be attached tothe machine.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the coupling body andthe first end of the sight glass are coupled so as to permit rotation ofthe sight glass relative to the coupling body while maintaining a fluidtight seal between the sight glass and the coupling body.